There’s just something about David Bowie. I have almost every Bowie album but this one stands out, not just for the brilliant cover of David and model Twiggy, nor the limited-edition picture disc; it’s what this album stands for. At the time it was so poorly received, critics said that the covers by Bowie didn’t improve on the originals – and this is one of the reasons why I like it – it’s just different. The song “Sorrow” is a real stand-out for me, I remember my older sister playing it when I was five years old – I loved it then and love it still. But it was many years after that I would own this album. Like most treasures, this one was stumbled across. Along with Roberta Flack’s album, Killing me Softly (with a fold out cardboard grand piano cover!) I found Pin Ups in a garage sale box in a suburban house in San Diego 1991. I didn’t pay $16.95 as it says on the price tag, I think it was less? I actually don’t remember. When I saw that cover with David and Twiggy as a picture disc, I had to have it! It would be another year before I played the record as there was no turntable where I was living in the USA; and I had to wait until I returned to Australia. Carefully transporting the record all the way back to Australia in my luggage – when I played the record, all those memories came rushing back to me from when I was only five, and all of the other Bowie songs I’d collected since then. It was also a mint copy; I don’t think it have ever been played! Now, almost 50 years later since it was pressed, it still plays beautifully, not a scratch!
